Equipment Rack - How important in the grand scheme of things?

Why would placing the amp on granite cause issues?

In a word, because granite rings. But like everything else it depends on how you use it. Vibration control is as much about shape as material. Tuning forks ring forever not just because of the metal but mostly because of the shape. Your granite being leftover kitchen counter is probably only about an inch or so thick and fairly wide. So you won’t notice it as much. But if you sit it on edge and hit it with something you will hear the sound it makes. Whatever that sound is you will notice is being imparted into the music of whatever component is sitting on it. Sounds crazy but totally true.

Looking at my system what is hard to see is the amp on the granite has a bit of sorbothane between the granite and the BDR. The granite under the turntable is on a sand bed. Both of these are in order to control the granite.

This is a great example of why its so important to understand what you’re doing is not isolating (of which there is no such thing) but vibration control. Even if you somehow had the perfectly isolated shelf or rack or whatever you will still have the problem of the vibration generated in the component itself, which actually turns out to be the majority of the vibration. So ultimately it comes back to vibration control.

Granite is great for mass and stiffness, but it rings and if untreated will impart a hardness to the sound at certain treble frequencies. But the mass is great for putting the music on a solid foundation. Listen to my system you will be astounded at the degree to which this is true. Would never be that way without that 750 lb under the turntable and 150lb slab under the amp.

Tile is even worse than granite. Isolation footers are a misnomer. They’re vibration control pretending to be something other than what they are. Imposters never are quite as good as the real McCoy. The best rack is no rack so the floor is great, just put some BDR Cones and Round Things between the floor and the amps.

I waited over 50 years to even consider a proper equipment stand.  I never gave it much thought assuming it more for aesthetics than anything else.  The I saw an ad for an audio stand that greatly appealed to me.

You are correct that everything matters.  All things have a resonance, the frequency at which they vibrate in free air.  You want a solid base for your equipment which contributes no unwanted frequencies of its own, much like a properly acoustically treated room.

Most commercially available audio stands are compromises because they are meant to ship.  The are broken down into flat sections to facilitate this.  So you must put them together.  How tight are the screws...too tight or not enough?  The stand may twist or get loose over time, requiring re-tightening of the few screws provided or worse. Some use threaded rods which are awkwardly striking against nicely finished wood.  Some stands use metal which rings without reinforcement or messy filling of some kind

I saw an ad for Saluda River Audio Stands which appealed to me enough that I gave Mike a call.  Mike prides himself on not making furniture but audio stands exclusively.  Mike will e-mail you a graph diagram with your prescribed dimensions before he starts. 

Mike uses 2 inch solid maple shelving.  The 4 inch by 1 /3/4 inch vertical supports are cut in to match the perfect indentation of the shelves they mate with.  These joints are then glued.  They are further strengthened by inserting 2, not one, German made screws at each mating point. 

The finish is a custom dye.  The color of my choice required Mike to mix 5 separate dyes for the desired shade.  This is finished with six separate coats of a custom sealer.

Quality craftsmanship this takes time.  In my case it was 10 weeks from start to delivery.  Along the way, Mike kept me informed with e-mails and photos of the very stages of progress and completion date estimates. 

Shipping damage is eliminated because Mike is willing to deliver the stand to most locations for a very small fee.  If the destination distance is just too great Mike fabricates custom crates for freight delivery.

All this care and craftsmanship is at a very modest price.   My five shelf stand was $2K with $400.00 of that being for the custom dye I wanted.

How does it sound?  Properly designed, as this stand is, there is no sound of its own.

I have no monetary or business interest in Mike's company.  I am a very happy customer and wish him much success.  My system can be views under "Member Lookup" username "Kodak805."

Saluda River Audio Stands website is here:

https://saluda-river-audio-stands.business.site/

I hope this helps!

@millercarbon - didn't see your response before posting. I do need a rack since I have limited space for my gear and it has to be organized vertically for the space I have available (other than the power amps).

Well there you go then. You know what to do. If looks are more important then you'll get a better looking rack. If sound is more important then you know to keep the rack you have, or at least not spend much on a new one, and improve Cones, fo.Q, TC, HFT and ECT first. Unless you are really in love with the look. Ultimately its all about you. It is after all your system.

I know the tape and TC sounds funny but I'm totally serious. Whatever improvement you hear from a new rack, and you very well might, but it will at best be enough to have you not feeling like it was a total waste sound-wise. With fo.Q and TC however you will be shaking your head and gaping in disbelief that anything could ever make that much difference. Two sheets of fo.Q and TC will run you about $350. The rack.....?

kodak805 is right. The truth is most racks are designed as much for shipping as sound. Sad but true. No one ever does a real stand demo to know for sure how these things sound but one of those Saluda River beauties, they look so sweet, make even me not care about that.

@jaytor ,
My source and preamp reside in an Ikea Besta cabinet, not the greatest way to isolate equipment, so I understand your situation.
In my case, I use Townshend platforms, as well as maple platforms from Butcher Block Acoustics. The Townshend platforms really provide great isolation, and I heard a significant difference when I installed them.
PM me if you would like more information.
And,
Granite is preferred by Richard Vandersteen to be used under his speakers, so using it under an amp should provide a good base-especially if you add some isolation/damping.
Bob